It's not love
by gracemv
Summary: What really happened between Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy back in their days at Hogwarts? The untold story of growing up and teenage crushes, all whilst struggling through exams and the impending return of Voldemort. (Dramione)


**It's not love**

_Hi guys! So this is the first Harry Potter fan fiction I have ever written so I hope you enjoy and please leave reviews, they help me so much! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter obviously, or Dramione would have happened._

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**Chapter One: Attending Hogwarts**

Hermione Granger looked down at heavy envelope in her hands. This was the first letter she had ever received and she had no idea of who could have sent it. Her mother, who had just delivered the post to her daughter, smiled fondly at the 11 year old and softly closed the door behind her as she exited the room. Without pondering on the question of who had sent it any longer, Hermione ripped open the thin paper envelope and pulled out the piece of parchment neatly folded inside. She read the letter three times over, drinking in the words with every sentence she read.

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL_

_of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY_

_Dear Miss Granger_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on September 1st. We await your owl by no later than July 31st._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Her? Hermione Granger? A witch?

She turned over the page and was met with a list of equipment and rules; but for once in her life, she didn't care about books, she had to tell her parents.

She could barely scramble down the stairs quick enough, and by the time she had reached the bottom, she had almost broken her neck twice. Bursting through the kitchen door, Hermione threw the letter down on the table before stepping bad with a triumphant smile plastered across her face. Her parents cast a quizzical look in her direction, but Hermione only continued to smile.

"Read it." She demanded.

Her father slowly put down his mug of coffee and reached for the parchment across the table. His eyes scanned the page very slowly before he passed it to Mrs Granger. Hermione's mother read the letter at an equally slow pace before turning to face her daughter.

"You're a- a witch?" she asked.

Hermione's smile broke out into a toothy grin. "Isn't it great?"

The young brunette looked down expectantly at her parents; her mother, still clutching the letter, was watching her daughter closely, her face the perfect mixture of confusion and shock. Her father however, was grinning back at her.

"I always knew there was something special about you!" He said, getting up to encase his daughter in a hug. "I can't believe it, our little Mione, a witch!"

Her mother opened her mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again. Mr Granger strode back over to his wife and rested his hand on her shoulder. Her mother relaxed almost immediately and she re-read the letter once more.

"So this is real, it's not a joke?" she asked.

"I don't think so..." Hermione replied, unsure as to whether her mother was pleased about her revelation or completely disgusted.

Mrs Granger let out a shaky breath, before standing up next to her husband.

"Well in that case..." she said, breaking out into a radiant smile. "Congratulations Hermione, our little witch!"

Her mother engulfed her in a hug and Hermione sighed in relief. For a moment, she thought that she would still be forced to go to the local secondary school and face the teasing about how she liked to study and read. But would that still happen at this...this Hogwarts place?

Her father seemed to sense her fears.

"Don't worry Mione, I'm sure you will make lots of friends!"

The 11 year old quickly hugged her father once more, before the entire family sat down at the kitchen table to discuss the rest of the letter. Hermione's eyes brightened at the thought of the new textbooks she would be buying, but that of course let to the family's first major problem...where on earth was Diagon Alley?

...

"You do what!?" Her mother screeched, drawing the attention of the whole of kings cross station.

"Mum!" Hermione whispered. "We are not supposed to be drawing attention to ourselves!"

"I'm sorry darling! But there is no way that I am running at a wall!"

"But we have to! I've been reading all about it in 'Hogwarts: A History'!" Hermione said.

When her mother still continued to stare wide eyed at her daughter, Hermione rolled her eyes and hitched her small handbag further up her arm. "Fine!" She huffed. "I'll just have to go first!"

The brunette swung her trolley away from her parents and lined it up in front of the brick wall between platforms 9 and 10. She gulped silently as she studied the surface in front of her; it did look very...solid. Gripping her hands tightly around the handle she breathed in deeply before pushing the trolley towards the wall. This was it; she was either on her way to the most magical place one could imagine or she was about to become the laughing stock of Kings Cross Station. With one last glance at her mother, Hermione made contact with the wall. She prepared herself for the impact but was shocked (and very thankful) to find that she glided straight through.

Stumbling slightly as she appeared on the other side, Hermione managed to take in the amazing sight in front of her. A large steam train was waiting patiently on the tracks whilst hundreds of children piled their belongings through the doors. The brunette couldn't help but crack a smile, although this could have been any other normal platform, the place just had a magical aura surrounding it.

A gasp from behind her drew Hermione's attention back to her parents.

"This is... Incredible!" Her mother spluttered. "We just- we just ran through a wall!"

Her father laid his large hand lightly on his daughters shoulder. "I'll be honest, I wasn't sure whether this was all true up until now, but this place is simply magical." He stated, gazing around at the wizards wishing their children off for another year at school.

"I know what you mean." Hermione agreed, nodding her head. "Now, come on, help me get my trunk on the train, I need to find the other first years."

...

Hermione passed silently and quickly down the corridors of the Hogwarts Express. She knew that she had never been any good at making friends, but so far she hadn't even seen anyone her age to talk to. She was so busy looking through the windows of carriages that she didn't notice a young boy tearing down the corridor until it was too late. The pair collided and Hermione stumbled backwards before tumbling onto the floor.

"I'm so sorry!" The boy gasped, helping Hermione back up off the ground. "It's just that I've lost my toad and my Nan bought him for me."

Hermione smiled. "It's fine, would you like me to help you look for him?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Oh please, that would help a lot! I'm Neville by the way." He said, sticking out his chubby arm towards Hermione.

"Hermione." She answered, firmly shaking the boy's hand. "I'll go and look this way..." She said, pointing in the direction that she hadn't yet been in.

"Alright, well, I'll try and meet up with you later to see if either of us has found him."

"Ok." Hermione agreed, before setting off on her quest to find the missing toad.

The brunette grinned to herself as she passed down the corridor. She had finally spoken to someone in her year and now she had an excuse to start a conversation with anyone else.

Slowing down outside a carriage, Hermione noticed a boy that she recognised from one of the many books that she had read about the wizarding world.

Sliding open the door to the compartment, Hermione saw this as the perfect chance to speak to some more first years.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost one."

A ginger boy sat across from the one that Hermione recognised frowned, his wand poised in his hand.

"No." He said curtly.

Hermione only shrugged, but still didn't leave the carriage.

"Are you doing magic?" She asked.

The ginger boy nodded.

"Go on then, let's see."

He glared once more but continued on from where it appeared he had been interrupted.

Hermione watched as he shouted out something that sounded absolutely nothing like a real spell, and couldn't help but giggle as the two boys sighed in dismay when nothing happened.

"I don't think that's a real spell." Hermione stated. "I've only tried a few simple spells myself, but they've all worked for me."

She turned in the direction of the other boy and pointed her wand at his glasses. "Oculus Reparo." With a small crack, the broken noseband automatically fixed itself and Hermione smiled in triumph.

Only when the boy took off the glasses to admire Hermione's handy work, did she eventually realise who he was. "You're Harry potter!" She blurted, causing the boy to blush slightly.

Quickly remembering her manners, Hermione turned to the other boy in the carriage, who was currently shovelling chocolate frogs into his mouth. "And you are?"

"Ron Weasley." He mumbled, not waiting to finish his mouthful.

Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Right well, I think we'll be here soon, so you better go change into your robes." She told the pair, before leaving the carriage to get dressed.

Skipping slightly as she passed through the train to find her trunk, Hermione barely noticed another group of first years huddled in a compartment, laughing at the bushy haired girl. However, one by in particular had already labelled her as something much worse than that.

"She's obviously a mud blood." He stated, leaning back in his seat to watch his friend's reactions.

"How can you tell?" A raven haired girl asked. "Draco, do you know a spell that can show who is one?"

The boy named Draco rolled his eyes at the girl's excitement. "No Pansy, but just look at her, she even finds this rotten old train fascinating."

The group turned at once to see if what Draco had said was true. Hermione had now seemingly remembered the task in hand and was now on her knees searching the floor of the train for Neville's lost toad.

Two other boys snorted at the sight. "You're right Draco." One said.

"Yeah, I mean just look at her!" The other agreed, before the pair continued to guffaw at the girl.

"Grabbe, Goyle! Shut up! She'll hear you!" Pansy scolded them, before picking up a copy of witches weekly from the table and delving into a new article about a hair straightening spell.

The pair of boys quietened down immediately and returned to wrestling with each other, as they had been doing for the past hour. Draco only continued to glare at the mud blood stood outside their compartment. He smirked to himself as he began to plot all the ways he could mess with her. Yes, Draco Malfoy knew he was in for a very entertaining first year at Hogwarts.

...

A few hours later, Hermione found herself on a boat with the other first years sailing towards Hogwarts. Of course, due to her inquiring mind, Hermione had already found out almost everything there was to know about her new school, but she still could not wait another minute to see the grand building for herself.

As the boats drew ever nearer, the gasps began to escape from the other passengers as the huge castle began to come into sight.

"Wicked!" Shouted Ron, the boy Hermione had spoken to earlier.

At last they reached the end of their journey and were met by a very strict looking teacher who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall. Hermione smiled as she recognised the name from the letter she had received.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." She spoke over the hustle of the young children. "Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you house points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup." She smiled at Hermione and a few others before sweeping off through the doors.

Hermione found her smile became even wider - she had completely forgotten about the houses. Of course, she had read all about them in 'Hogwarts: A history' but she had never even begun to think about how she would soon be sorted into one. For most pure or half-bloods, this was the moment they and their parents would have been waiting for most of their lives. The sorting determined your friends and for Slytherin, your social circles. Scratching her head, Hermione thought back to the traits of each house that she had read about and soon came to the conclusion that she would most likely be sorted into Ravenclaw - the house of wit and learning. Looking back at Harry and Ron, she hoped that she would be sorted into the same houses as them, or maybe even the same as Neville, the boy whose toad she had found earlier.

Apparently this news had also excited the other children around her and soon the group were whispering loudly to each other about the houses they hoped they would be in. Fortunately, Professor McGonagall had returned and was quick to silence the group and guide them into a line that was alphabetically ordered.

"We're ready for you now." She spoke.

Suddenly, the great doors began to open and the herd of nervous first years were soon walking amongst four long tables, all of which led down to the end of the hall where another table seated the various professors. Hermione couldn't help but look up towards the ceiling. "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." She said to no one in particular.

Eventually the group stopped and gathered around Professor McGonagall. Behind her sat a stool, on which an old battered hat perched on top. Immediately Hermione recognized it as the sorting hat due to, once again, Hogwarts: A history.

Before McGonagall could speak again, the hat opened its brim like a mouth and began to sing a tune about the four houses and their traits. Hermione followed along and listened intently to every word the hat spoke. Although she had first thought Ravenclaw would be the place for her, the brave Gryffindor's now seemed much more appealing.

Once the hat had finished, the room broke out into a loud applause and Professor McGonagall drew a long scroll out of her cloak. "When I call your name you will sit on this stool and put on the sorting hat, now-"

The professor proceeded to call forward 6 students and each time Hermione found herself stepping closer to the stool. Soon it would be her turn to be sorted and she was incredibly nervous about where the hat would place her.

The sound of "Granger, Hermione!" brought her back from her thoughts and she quickly rushed towards the stool whispering calming thoughts to herself. She rammed the hat on her head and sat silently for a few seconds.

"Oh..." The hat spoke; in a low voice that Hermione guessed only she could hear. "Well, yes, you do have a brilliant mind; however I sense a lot of bravery too. Hmm, you would excel in Ravenclaw there's no doubt about that, but I think it should be... GRYFFINDOR!"

Hermione jumped up off the stool, a huge grin plastered across her face, and quickly ran towards the Gryffindor table where she was greeted which a loud cheer. Hastily taking a seat, she turned back to face the rest of the first years. A boy named Draco Malfoy had been called up to be sorted and as soon as the hat was placed upon his head it screeched out "SLYTHERIN!" Hermione couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed. Behind his smirk and obvious arrogance he was, quite, well...cute? Hermione quickly shook her head. This boy was now in the rival house and obviously a bit pompous, there was no way she could think he was cute! Putting the blonde haired boy out of her mind, she turned her attention back to the sorting. Several more students were put into their houses before it was Harry's turn. Hermione found herself crossing her fingers that he was in the same house as her due to the fact he was one of the few people she had spoken to. After much deliberation, the hat finally decided to place him in Gryffindor and the whole table erupted into to the loudest cheers and screams of the whole sorting. Whilst another girl was sorted Hermione flashed a smile in Harry's direction, which was returned, before it was Ron's turn. Luckily he too was placed in the red and gold house and Hermione found herself relieved at the fact all three of the people she had spoken too were now sat at the table with her.

After a speech from Dumbledore and a fantastic feast, Hermione followed the rest of her house towards the dormitories, certain that this year was going to be the start of an amazing journey.

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_Thanks for reading! I'm going to try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible! _


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